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Everyone now wants a Lion
Before the World Cup kicked off the statistic that most people could tell you about the Senegalese squad was how 22 of the 23 man squad played in the French League. World Cup success is heavily revising that stat because it seems everyone now wants their own Lion. Buying a player on
the basis of his World Cup performances is a strategy fraught with risk.
Players only need to sparkle in the World Cup for a few games in a situation
when they are high on adrenalin and suddenly they look the best thing
since sliced bread. Remember no less a judge than Manchester United's
Sir Alex Ferguson splashed out on Czech winger Karel Poborsky after Euro
96 and he proved an expensive dud. Ferguson could have had Zinedine Zidane,
but Zizou and France had a poor Euro 96. Zidane went to Juventus instead
who knew the underlying reasons for his less than sparkling form and the
rest is history. Arsenal's Arsène
Wenger says a manager has not done his homework if he goes to the World
Cup to discover a player. He should know who's who before he gets on the
plane. In England Wenger and Gerard Houllier of Liverpool certainly have
the rest of the managers playing catch-up. To prove this Liverpool
snapped up midfielder Salif Diao on the eve of the tournament and are
said to have already signed the prize catch El Hadji Diouf from under
Valencia's nose for £10m. Lens can smell a huge payday and are trying
to cash in on the striker's impressive form over the past fortnight by
attempting to double the price to about £19m. England's Pemiership
in particular seems to be the preferred destination of the Teranga Lions. Steve Bruce of Premiership
newcomers Birmingham moved for Aliou Cisse, Senegal's centre-back and
skipper, after he shut out Thierry Henry in the victory over France. A
fee of £4.5m was agreed with Cisse's club and Birmingham are currently
negotiating with the player for his terms. There are more. Midfielder
Pape Bouba Diop, the scorer of three goals so far including the winner
against France, is being linked with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Bruce has also inquired about playmaker Khalilou Fadiga, but Arsenal and
serial buyers Internazionale of Italy are also rumoured to be interested.
Pape Malick Diop, currently a Lorient midfielder, might be hitting the
Bundesliga with Werder Bremen. Two others, Sedan's
Moussa N'diaye and Ferdinand Coly of Lens, have also been making their
admiration for the Premiership well known. "Coly might not be playing
in France for much longer," said Bruno Metsu, Senegal's coach. The Lions are about to strike gold.
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In
Round 2 Ike
Shorunmu Lucas
Radebe Samuel
Eto'o In
Round 1 Metsu's
secret Profiles |
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